The Fail Whale is back at Twitter and so is some strange behavior that will have a serious impact on Twitter users and especially Social Media Marketers. The largest concern is that some @ Tweets are NOT appearing in the timelines of Twitter users who do not follow you.
QUICK SOCIAL MEDIA MARKETING TWITTER TIP:
Search on your username to see ALL Tweets
Do NOT rely on Twitter to show them to you!!!
Here are some screen captures showing some tests I just did this morning. The first image shows my Tweets to Dennis. Notice that he is not yet following me.
The second image (below) shows that the Tweet never appeared on the Twitter page that others can see. Note that it also did not appear where HE could see it.
He would have never known I sent it if I had not asked him.
When Dennis followed me my Tweets suddenly appeared (retroactively) in his timeline but never appeared on his page where I could see them.
The third image below shows that he is now following me and his reply to me but not my Tweets to him.
Neither the Tweets from before he followed me nor after he followed me are appearing on his home page but he CAN see them himself.
Dennis then unfollowed me and the Tweets from me disappeared from his page. He thought it might just be his account so I did some further testing.
My Tweet to Tamar was never visible on her home page at Twitter. Apparently, incoming Tweets can NOT be seen by others looking at our home page.
We only see others’ outgoing Tweets on their home pages.
We do NOT see the Tweets are sent from others TO them.
We can only HOPE they see our incoming Tweets or ask them if they received them using another method as we can not confirm they appear on their home page.
Tamar DID receive my test Tweet as confirmed by this reply from her:
I also did a test and unfollowed GoodMillwork to see if their Tweets to me disappeared. They did not.
I had a Tweet sent from @GoodMillwork while I was not following them to see what would happen and it appeared on my @GrowMap page:
Conclusion? We are left with these possibilities:
- New Twitter accounts work differently than older Twitter accounts
- Dennis Edell’s new account is not working correctly
- How Twitter works is inconsistent either by design or by technical error (bugs)
No matter what the reason, one thing is imperative for Twitter users and especially for businesses using Twitter for Social Media Marketing: you need to ensure that you are viewing ALL of your Tweets. Do not trust Twitter to show them to you. This is easily done.
Set up and save a search for your UserName without the @ symbol using the built in Twitter search.
Have you noticed any missing Tweets in your account? That is a commonly reported issue that Twitter support is still working on and seems to frequently be challenged to fix. If you have any other unusual Twitter behavior, insights into Twitter, or any other tips you would like to share please leave them in the comments.
